Goals

It is the policy of Shawnee Heights USD 450 to take the following measures in order to better protect our district students from harmful online and electronically transmitted content:

install blocks or Internet filters to the district network in order to limit access by both minors and adults to child pornography or visual materials that are obscene, inappropriate, or harmful to minors and/or the transmission thereof;

monitor the online activities of district users while at school, at school sponsored activities, or while utilizing the district's network, computer system, computers, e-mail system, or electronic devices having access to the Internet;

monitor the online activities of district users while at school, at school sponsored activities, or while utilizing the district's network, computer system, computers, e-mail system, or electronic devices having access to the Internet;

educate users about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms as well as on cyberbullying awareness and response;

prevent unauthorized disclosure, use, or dissemination of personal information regarding minors, which shall include, but may not be limited to, personally identifiable information contained in student records; and

comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act.

Internet safety

1. The district will prohibit access by minors to inappropriate material on the Internet and World Wide Web.

a.Users are not permitted to access material through the district electronic network that is profane or obscene (pornography), that advocates illegal acts, or that advocates violence or discrimination toward other people (hate literature).

2. The district will enforce the safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communication.

Student users are not permitted to share personal contact information about themselves or other people. District staff will not share personal contact information about students. (Personal contact information includes the student’s name together with other information that would allow an individual to locate the student, including, but not limited to, parent’s name, home address or location, work address or location, or phone number.)

Students are not permitted to agree to meet someone they have met online.

Students must promptly disclose to their teacher or other school employee any message they receive that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable. Students should not delete such messages until instructed to do so by a staff member.

3. Unauthorized access, including “hacking” and other unlawful activities by minors online is prohibited.

Under no conditions should a user provide his/her passwords to another person.

Attempts to "log on" to the network using either another user’s account or as a network administrator are prohibited.

Users must immediately notify a network administrator if a password is lost or stolen, or if they have reason to believe that someone has obtained unauthorized access to their accounts.

Users are not allowed to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the district system or to any other computer system through the district system, or go beyond their authorized access.

Users are not allowed to access another person's files. These actions are illegal, even if only for the purpose of “browsing”.

Users will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system performance or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means. These actions are illegal.

Users will not use the district system to engage in any illegal act, such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of person, etc

Elementary and middle school students will not disclose their full name or any other personal contact information for any purpose. High school students will not disclose personal contact information, except to education institutes for educational purposes, companies or other entities for career development purposes, or with specific staff approval.

Employees are responsible for safeguarding student records and other confidential information, sharing with others only as allowed under district policy and appropriate laws and regulations. Employees should not allow nonemployees or unauthorized employees access to their computers or files containing such information.

Teachers and Administrators will ensure the protection of student personal information when establishing any relationship with a third-party site or system. All contracts with third party providers of data management services for the district must be reviewed to ensure compliance with federal and state student privacy and records retention laws.

5. The district will implement measures designed to restrict minors’ access to materials harmful to minors.

The district has selected a technology protection measure (software filtering) for use with the district Internet system.

The filtering software will always be configured to protect against access to material that is obscene, child pornography and material that is harmful to minors, as defined by the Children’s Internet Protection Act. The district or district schools may, from time to time, reconfigure the filtering software to best meet the educational needs of the district or schools and address the safety needs of the students.

The filter may not be disabled at any time that students may be using the district Internet system, if such disabling will cease to protect against access to materials that are prohibited under the Children’s Internet Protection Act. The filter may be disabled during non-student use time for system administrative purposes.

6. The district will monitor the online activity of minors to ensure they are using appropriate online behavior as it relates to interaction with others on social networks, chatrooms, cyberbullying awareness, and response.

It shall be the responsibility of all members of the district staff to educate, supervise, monitor, follow, and model appropriate usage of the online network and Internet.

Designated instructional staff will provide age-appropriate training for all students who use the Internet. Content of training includes (but is not limited to) lessons related to appropriate interaction with others on social network sites, chat rooms, and other interactive web 2.0 technologies, CyberBullying awareness, and CyberBullying response.

Education, Supervision and Monitoring

It shall be the responsibility of all members of the District's staff to educate, supervise, and monitor appropriate usage of online computer network access to the internet in accordance with this policy and CIPA. If, during the course of such monitoring, a student or staff member discovers a violation of this policy, the student or staff member shall make a report as follows:

1) Students shall report suspected violation of this policy to any classroom teacher.

2) Staff members shall report suspected violations of this policy to their immediate supervisor when possible.

Disciplinary Measures

The district retains the right to discipline any student, up to and including expulsion, and any employee, up to and including termination, for violation of this policy.